Pentecostal Convert

Brent Stubbs

Brent Stubbs is a 29 year old educational leader and novice father and husband, lay philosopher, newbie blogger and former Protestant preacher and Bible teacher. He holds a BA in theology (Oral Roberts University), a MBA and has done graduate coursework in philosophy. Raised in the Pentecostal tradition and the sometimes multi-denominational world, he writes from the vantage of a man who had to find the truth.

Almost Not Catholic

Here's the skinny:

● Born into a reverent Pentecostal family

● Former Pentecostal preacher and high school Bible teacher

● Trained in Reformed theology at Oral Roberts University (03')

● Entered into full communion with the Catholic Church November 23, 2008

Now let's dive right into the story from where it gets interesting

On February 5, 2006 my daughter was born. I'll never forget the overwhelming joy and love of that moment. I will also never forget the fear of the Lord that overcame me. It had been fine up until this point to linger in my own religious "ignorance"--I say ignorance because I knew there were serious tensions in my faith but I had no internal drive to resolve them--going about practicing Christianity in the tradition that I had inherited. However, it was quite another thing all together to pass that faith off to this innocent life. As I held my helpless daughter in my arms, I remember knowing that I had run out of time. The time was now to investigate what was the true faith, the true Church, and where in fact would my children be safe from the rising tide of relativism, secularism, and evil.

Turning to Mary

For many, Mary is the last hurdle to "get over"in their journey to the Church. For me, she was the first. In fact, before Catholicism was ever on the radar, I remember prayerfully reading, "all generations will call me blessed", contained in the Magnificat of our Blessed Mother found in Luke 1:48. I thought to myself, "where in my tradition do we call her blessed?" It would seem that Mary was prophesying about the future, a future that I was not a part of. But why? Where could I find a church, that in every generation, preserved the honor of Mary?

Later in my studies, I learned that the dogmas of Mary flow organically from a proper Christology. Marian doctrines safeguard Christology, especially the doctrine of the Incarnation. If Christ is not fully man, then we have no hope of salvation because we have no access to the divine life of God. It is only through the humanity of Christ, provided by Mary by the divine plan of God, that we can share in His divinity and ultimately the life of the Holy Trinity. While one may not find the dogmas explicitly taught in scripture they are certainly not rejected by scripture. Further, if the Church is the "ground and pillar of truth" than it is reasonable to believe them. So, I did.

Turning to the Church

Just months after my daughter was born, I stepped down from teaching theology and actually began working in business. I had been working on an MBA in the evenings, sensing my departure was coming, and so the timing was perfect. This afforded me and my wife the time to go on our own spiritual journey. During this time, I struggled with my personal calling, still believing I was called to ministry but not knowing where I fit. While discerning my call, a Catholic friend of mine whom I respected gave me counsel and offered me a book to read, Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn. I'll never forget, after reading the book in one day, feeling as though the Catholic Church would be my home. The book acted as a theological hand grenade.

I knew, of course, that I had to investigate Hahn's claims with the full force of my intellect. I dusted off Calvin's Institutes, ordered a Catholic Catechism and also ordered Luther's Catechism. I also purchased and or borrowed a dozen other books from prominent Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologians alike. For the next months, I spent every waking hour: (1) studying and (2) praying that God would "throw me off this path if it was not of Him." My Pentecostal faith had taught me that God would not give a "scorpion" if I asked for an "egg" (Lk 11:12) and so I concluded that he would not give me a harlot church if I was asking him for His Church.

Turning to the Truth

I had an unorthodox senior year in high school. Your average high school senior parties his last year away. I, rather, studied, prayed, and preached "revivals" my senior year. In college I devoured more and more books, attended to more and more Catholic and Protestant positions on theological issues, and became more and more convinced of the truth of Catholicism. One thing that was disheartening was the general disingenuous way in which Protestant theologians dealt with Catholic positions. At worst, the anti-Catholic Protestants did a horrible job reading both the original sources as well as the supporting literature, air-mailing into a text and grabbing whatever suited their argument. Half the time you could read the next paragraph of the text they were citing to discredit their thesis. The Catholic Catechism or St. Augustine were equal targets of their editorialising. At the best, thoughtful Protestant theologians seemed to make good cases for being Catholic without themselves having the nerve to follow the logical ends of their thought.

Two books had the most significant impact on my conversion. First, Robert Sungenis's book Not By Bread Alone literally caused me to stop going to Protestant church and start attending Mass regularly. In the book, he demonstrates by scripture why penal vicarious atonement is heretical. Having a background in Biblical languages, I could see why the Mass was biblical and how it was truly a sacrifice qua a re-presentation of the One Sacrifice at Calvary. At that time, I had held that position (penal vicarious atonement) and remember being overwhelmed by the fact that if a prayerful student of scripture with a theology degree could be a material heretic, then anyone could. We were going to start going to Mass now and went for over 2 years before coming into the Church. The second book, On the Development of Christian Doctrine, by Blessed John Henry Newman, put the nail in the coffin, so to speak, of my Protestantism. In the book, Blessed Newman, in illustrious detail, depicts the first five centuries of Christianity, and in doing so gives example after example of similarities that the early Church holds with the present day Catholic Church. He ends his discussion of each era with a unique characterization heretics and schismatics would have of the Church. Amazingly, the claims of the heretics and schismatics were just as relevant to the Catholic Church today as they were then!

As a brief tangent to this discussion, I also during my journey had some very concerning epistemological questions. Epistemology is the study of knowledge or knowing. I noticed that at the time the culture and my faith were on parallel tracks for defining truth, or rather that both were congruently making the claim at least implicitly that truth is grounded in the knower. When I say "grounded", I mean "by what" do you hold some knowledge "x". This didn't make sense because I knew that the truth of any object is in the object not in the intellect knowing the object. Truth isn't truth because I believe it, that simply makes it a belief. A belief is true, however, because it is grounded in what is real. As I contemplated this more, I became frustrated because I noticed that as a Protestant I was forced to "make it up every morning", prove every doctrine from scripture, and could never be truly "set free" because I "knew the truth". However, for a Catholic, his/her conviction will not change on infallibly revealed truth on, say birth control, because the ground for that truth is external to his/herself, namely the Church which according to scripture (I Tim 3:15) is where it should be. For a sola scripturist, the moment the ground for their truth (themselves) is challenged sufficiently to have a "moment of conscious", they change position (Eph 4:14). The beauty of the Church is that Truth is not subject to my weak intellect, sinfulness and pride. So, even when my "gut" or "head" or "heart" tells me birth control is "a-ok", I'm wrong. Ah, I'm free! (Jn 8:32). Free from my weak intellect, sinfulness, and pride to reject my "gut, head, or heart" from telling me that Jesus is 50% God, baptism is a symbol, or Mary sinned.

In order to have the time to deal with my epistemological dilemma and to reach the aforementioned conclusion, I decided that some of my questions required more extant research. I sold some property, used the funds to take off work, and moved from Florida to Texas to study graduate philosophy at the University of Dallas. It was there that I would answer my questions, and on November 23, 2008, my wife and I were received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Our children were baptized a few months later.

As a former Pentecostal-evangelical, I am passionate about the fact that the Pentecostal/charismatic renewal can be tied to Christian unity. For one, a Protestant can't see their church as Apostolic in any real sense. A Protestant Church sees their church as congregational, democratic, or independent, not Apostolic. However, a charismatic/Pentecostal church believes that they are connected to the Apostolic church in virtue of their charism. To think that what happened then should be happening now is a Catholic way of thinking, and even more, to limit the work of the Holy Spirit to the apostolic times is only a Protestant way of thinking.

Secondly, to believe that God uses matter as a conduit of grace is important too. The Pentecostal/charismatic renewal primarily occurred in non-sacramental churches. These churches are far more divorced from the historic Christian view of the sacraments as one might find in Anglican, Lutheran or Presbyterian churches. Those churches have readily accessible symbols of their Catholic heritage. The charismatic movement can be seen as a way for the Holy Spirit to reach out to those Christians who have, by no fault of their own, become alienated from all signs of the Catholic Church. Think of the modern church with a cafe, stadium seating, and a rock concert up front. These churches are devoid of all historical Christian symbols. Third, the Pentecostal/charismatic movement generally brought with it an increased awareness of the necessity of holiness. Sadly, the emphasis of personal holiness has declined in Pentecostal/charismatic circles in the last 20 years and I suspect without the Church as its ground of truth will continue down the slippery slope of libertinism.

There is a fourth effect of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement: a longing for God's presence. However, without the Blessed Sacrament, one is left to conjure God's presence in order to "feel" close to Him. In my experience, I noticed a general "those who got it" and "those who didn't" phenomena. This grieved me a lot. I knew God was a God of mercy and grace and it didn't seem fair that only spiritual juggernauts could "feel the spirit" and those who were less inclined were on the outside looking in or were forced to "fake it"--raising your hands as long as the person next to you, falling into silence, shouting, or generally just copying the people around you.

Everything a charismatic/Pentecostal longs for is fulfilled in the Eucharist. Their deep longing to encounter God is ONLY satisfied in the Eucharist. When I partook of our Lord for the first time I knew two things: (1) I had only tasted bread and juice before

and (2) This was as close to Jesus as I could ever come. As I sat there kneeling in silent prayer, I wept in my hand for at that moment the satisfying of every "all night prayer vigil", 2-hour worship service, tarrying, etc., was completely satisfied. I hungered and thirsted for righteousness and I was filled! I wasn't turned away formy lack of spirituality not knowing why I wasn't in the "in crowd" that "felt it". It was so beautiful to watch young and old, poor and rich, theologian and simpleton, come down and receive our Lord. This was truly the place of grace; a religion built upon the mercy of God.

If you are reading this and long for Jesus--come home to His Church. Outside of his Church we are left to beg like the Syrophoneician woman in Matthew 15, but it should not be so. Healing is the "children's bread". Christ in the Eucharist offers us the healing we need for our souls, for those that "eat my flesh and drink of my blood have eternal life" (John 6:54). The "bread which comes down from heaven" is the only thing that will truly satisfy your longing heart. Think about your spiritual experiences. Have they really satisfied you? I know this saying is hard, but we must not be like some of his disciples who at hearing his words "withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore" (John 6:66). If you are a charismatic/Pentecostal, I know you want to "walk with him along life's narrow way". Like the disciples your heart is "burning for him" (Luke 24:32), but even when Christ himself preached the Gospel to them, their eyes were not truly open until he "took the bread, blessed it ("this is my body"), and gave it to them" (Luke 24:31). At their realizing he vanished from their sight. Now, too, our Lord is not in sight, but his Apostles through their successors the Bishops are present to us; and "where the Bishop is so is the Eucharist" (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrneans, 8). Where the Eucharist is so is the satisfaction of our burning hearts, the quenching of our every thirst, the object of our greatest desire.

If you are Catholic and reading this, I hope this motivates you to share your faith with your separated Pentecostal/charismatic brothers and sisters. Although extrinsically their enthusiasm may seem attractive to you, we have what they want. We should not be ashamed of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It is the source and summit of our faith. "The faith once, delivered, to the saints" (Jude 3).

Brent Stubbs lives with his wife Danielle and 4 children (Leah, Dean, Jude, and Gemma) in central Florida. He works as the Department Chair for Adult Education. For apologetics, more about his story, and book reviews, visit www.almostnotcatholic.com

If you have found this story helpful in your spiritual journey we hope you will consider sharing it. Have feedback or would like to share your story? Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

OHHH and I was going to be the first "commentator" but missed it by a mere 10 minutes...oh well. I wonder if that is like missing the "Rapture" hehe? Not likely. But I digress...

My story was published here as well on May 5, and I can relate to Pentecostalism quite well, having been an Assemblies of God minister for 12 years. As a teen our whole family visited ORU and I still recall the lovely Prayer Tower. It is ironic that, returning to the Roman Catholic Church, I assumed I would be very active in the Catholic charismatic renewal but I am not.

Please understand I am not against "gifts" or charismata by any means, as they are clearly Catholic in teaching. In fact, as a Catholic growing up we heard of occasional saints through the ages that spoke in tongues, prophesied, or had other locutions or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. However I have found that most groups who are strongly within that emphasis, whether Catholic or Protestant, tend to all but eliminate the importance of the Sacraments at times.

So I have personally shyed away from the "movement" as such and concentrated far more on the Eucharistic presence of Christ, which as you and I both now know, is the "most charismatic" manifestation on the "late great" planet Earth hehe!!!

Brent your story truly resonates with me on that level as well as many others, and I am pretty sure your future is bright within the greater Catholic community. God bless you and peace to your wonderful family. What a gorgeous journey you have had. And not without its peaks and valleys, I am sure, especially from those who may never quite understand your change in theology. But oh, so worth everything we have or have had. Welcome home indeed.
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(I) concentrated far more on the Eucharistic presence of Christ, which as you and I both now know, is the "most charismatic" manifestation...!!!

Yes, Richard the Eucharist is what Christ gave us to satisfy our longing hearts. As Pentecostals, I believe we didn't realize that it was in fact the way of the Holy Spirit to bring us back to the Eucharistic Lord. Our longing could never be satisfied by tarrying, all night prayer vigils, etc. In His goodness and gentleness, He allowed those experiences to create a hunger in us that those experiences could never satisfy. Their subjective grounding wouldn't do. In the Eucharist, Jesus objectively offers Himself to us completely--as a groom offers himself to his bride. Really, truly, totally, fruitfully and faithfully.

Thank you for sharing your story, as a cradle Catholic who walked away and came back I value my faith more.
Hearing the stories of fervent Christians who have come to believe in the Catholic faith strengthens us all.
We pray that one day all will come to know the joy of partaking of the Holy Eucharist, the greatest gift that the Lord Jesus left us.
May the Lord continue to bless you and all those who are seeking a closer walk with Jesus.

Thanks for your story Brent! I too am an ORU grad, and I too, after college, put in a call to that professor, and he was very helpful on my journey to the Church in 2007.

I was encouraged, when I went back to ORU recently, that they have a sort of "sacred space" in the Prayer Tower. It's for quiet meditation and prayer. It's not exactly the sanctuary where our Blessed Lord is residing in the Tabernacle, but I think they are still reaching for the transcendent. Not just a "Jesus is my co-pilot" kind of spirituality.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us; it was a wonderful read and many of your experiences closely resemble some of my own (I was also received into the Church from a Pentecostal background in 2008). The anecdote about holding your little girl in your hands and feeling that tsunami of responsibility was especially moving and reminds me of that same feeling I have with my three children.

Wow..we really do have a lot in common:

29 years old, received into the Church in 2008, Pentecostal background, three children...too bad you live in Florida, I want to have you and your family over for dinner in Fairfield, CA!

The clincher for me in my journey was discovering that the Early Church was Catholic (unambiguously, without any shade of doubt, Catholic). I had always thought that the infant Church was proto-Pentocostal/Evangelical in nature, and that Catholic "corruptions" were introduced later on. To find, however, that the Church which Christ established was the Catholic Church completely blew me away. Reading the Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch (now my patron) and his command to all Christians to be in submission to their Bishop sealed the deal. Protestantism was no longer an option. I was either to submit to my validly ordained bishop, or abandon Christ altogether. There can be no middle way.

Hey there, another former Protestant here! I used to make all the usual anti-Catholic arguments myself (and then some...).

I came to the conclusion that many of the arguments that I was making didn't hold any water upon deeper investigation.

I eventually went ahead, and bought/downloaded copies of the Church Fathers from the Loeb Classical Library to investigate the matter for myself. If the Early Church Fathers made the same arguments that the "whore of babylon" made today, I felt I could figure it out.

Lo and Behold... The Early Church Father, to my amazement, were making arguments that sounded like they written yesterday in a Papal Encyclical, From the Didache, to Justin Martyr, to Jerome (my patron Saint) to Augustine, on and on...

I had one of two choices: Either forget what I've learned, or become Catholic.

Thank you for your kind words. The Florida to California jaunt is just too much unfortunately. Nonetheless, while we may not dine together at your table, we do share from the same table every week and are in communion with each other in such a profound way--through the Body and Blood of the Creator of the Universe!. I'm glad the Church Fathers had such a profound effect on you as they did for myself. My major at ORU was Theological Historical Studies (Church history) and I emphasized the pre-Nicene Church and late Protestantism. Ironically, for me, filling in the gaps meant reading the Medieval Theology of St. Thomas, St. Anselm and others. Still learning so much everyday...If you are ever in Florida, get in touch. You can go to my blog and go to the "about me" to contact me if you'd like. God bless.

Dear Brent,
This is a beautifully written explanation of the joy to be found when one seeks with one's whole heart. Thank you for taking the time to write it. I'll be sharing it with others in one way or another, and because it profoundly inspired me, I'm sure that your thoughts and poetic expression will color my own conversations.

Hi, I am Jayce, a teenager who is struggling with the Catholic faith. I was raised in a non denominational charismatic church. I desire to join the Catholic church, but I wonder about leaving certain habits behind (such as praying in tongues in my personal time, being free to worship in my church as I wish, etc.) Do you have any advice or encouragement for me? As you may know, it is quite an adjustment converting from charismatic protestant to the Catholic faith. Any help would be appreciated.

Jayce, The liturgy of the Holy Mass does not ritualize worship. What it does, is to unify those of us who worship! I can give you two points of encouragement. 1. Within the boundaries of Church dogma, you are free to worship any way the Spirit leads you on your own time. 2. There is currently a charismatic movement within the Church. Just remember above all things that being Christian is not about what YOU want. It's about what God wants. And God wants us believers to be unified, and to put others before ourselves. if this means that it's inappropriate to shout in the middle of a sermon. So be it. Small sacrifice for such an amazing gift!

To add to Ryan's already good advice, remember that your charismatic worship was always aimed at obtaining God's presence. You were/are seeking after Christ. Yet, that longing and seeking can only be satisfied in the Holy Eucharist; something that your tradition cannot provide. There is a bit of a re-orientation that has to take place, whereby you give up your best effort in exchange for His best effort. In other words, no charismatic worship "experience" ever comes close to the reality and truth of Christ in the Eucharist.

I would encourage you to seek Christ, and He will find you in the Holy Eucharist!

I have been a lifelong catholic with the exception of a couple of years thinking that pentacostalism, baptist, assemblies of god and last lutherans. I am focused on converting people to catholism. It is a hard battle since many faiths are so focused on certain scriptures. I found the truth through many hours of reading which hasnt stopped. I need a better way of professing the faith to the other denominations.

Very interesting testimony. I too come from a Pentecostal background, attended a Pentecostal Bible College for a few years. I also come from a Catholic family having had a Grandmother who was devout Catholic. Being apart of the Pentecostal Church became exhausting to me and I nearly walked away from my faith in Christ... I ended up attending an Evangelical church, where I am attending today. That said, after years of study, years of experience, years of seeking to understand Catholic spirituality and wanting to understand my Grandmother's faith truth began being revealed to me... it took years of searching and researching and then one day a few months ago I came to full resolve the teaching of Marry and the Eucharist and suddenly it was like the breaking of damn of a great big river washing over me... and after it all the only logical conclusion to make, even though I didn't search and research the Catholic faith to find truth, as I was secure in Christ and couldn't imagine converting to the Catholic Church... but then I grew to understand the false sola scriptura and sola fide teaching that came out of the Reformation. All of what I was learning, the prophetic and apostolic movement etc all of it was pointing to the Roman Catholic church... when I came to understand this I knew that my only logical decision is to convert. All the prophetic and apostolic teaching points to the Catholic church yet a great many can't and don't want to see it but I saw it and now I have to take these steps of obedience and I'm sure the more I do the greater peace I sense in my life. I'm thankful I came across a convert story from the Pentecostal tradition.

Well stated is an understatement. I was an associate pastor affiliated with the united Pentecostal church....Jesus Only if you will. I have long testimony...no time to type, but my main thing was always trying to 'get more' of God....to your point. I did not see the Eucharist as it was meant to be seen. Also...the revelationthat the bible came from the church, not vice versa, was key.

I agree with everything you said here. I too was a pentecostal who converted to Catholicism. It was after reading the books that are put out by a ministry called, Direction For Our Times. My life is so much better now that I am Catholic. I have suffered with chronic health problems for many years and when I was a pentecostal I was always told that I would be well if I just had enough faith to believe. I was constantly told that God's will is for everyone to be healthy. After converting to the Catholic faith I started reading books on the lives of the saints. So many of them also suffered physically. They taught me that there is redemptive value in my suffering. They taught me to offer my sufferings to God in exchange for graces that will lead souls to Jesus who need to be saved. They taught me to do as Jesus did in the Garden when he asked for His cross to be taken away but then said, "Never the less, your will be done." I also read in St. Faustina's Diary where Jesus said that the strength to suffer comes from receiving the Eucharist frequently. And so I do. I still suffer each and every day. But I now have a peace that I have never had before.

Alaina, when I was looking into Catholicism, these books really helped me:

Crossing the Tiber by Steven K. Ray
Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David Currie
By What Authority? An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition by Mark P. Shea
Surprised By Truth (volumes I, II and III) by Patrick Madrid
How Firm a Foundation by Marcus Grodi
Rome, Sweet Home by Scott and Kimberly Hahn

I thank you for the testimony. I was born Protestant. When i was around 15, mom let me water baptized without telling that i would be Pentecostal. I have never felt home at Pentecostal church. I have similar story as you do, the difference is that i've always been studying at Catholic school and thus received Catholic lessons. In 2011 during my depression time, i was called to recite a Rosary. At first i said,"Lord Jesus, what do You mean?? I'm a Protestant!" But the voice kept telling me (you might think i have scizophrenia, lol. No, i don't! I clearly heard it) until i gave up. I took my Rosary, googled how to as i had vivid memory about how to recite it. I became hungry of the Truth. Like a madman i kept searching on the net, reading books, etc. Since this time, too, i began more absence at my (former) church. This year i realized that what i think and believe points me out that in my whole life, i think like a Catholic, especially when i did a test on a site i was shocked to constantly got Catholic as an answer. After a lot of thinking, i finally made my decision, started catechumen at a Catholic church, i left Pentecostal church a day before my catechumen started. Although mom seems to be supportive, she looks sad. But i couldn't bear it anymore. I had to move on!

When i prayed,"Jesus, i'm missing something, but what?" The answer was not what. But who! I got a vision: a house without doors and windows is not complete. In other words, believing in Jesus, praising Him without honoring His Holy Mother isn't complete. This fulfill the 10 commandments to respect parents. Respect, honor our heavenly Mother Mary.

I am a convert, too. I entered the Catholic Church in 1983, after coming to the Lord through a "Jesus Freak" communal youth ministry. Then, I attended various churches from Free Methodist to Foursquare, but always still searching. But in the early 90's, I got hung up on Mary because I think I didn't really understand her importance, and so I walked away from the Catholic Church until right before Easter last year. Now, I am happily home again, and my husband, a former Lutheran is going through RCIA. We just had our marriage convalidated, and truly God is blessing us. Now, I am reading all the stuff I should have read earlier. Thanks for this website. I am blind, so it isn't always easy to find the materials I want to read in accessible formats. a

The Pentecostal church is not perfect, but then again, neither is the Catholic church or any other church organization; however, herein lies the fundamental difference between being imperfect and being "heretical." Being imperfect meaning that one is not perfect. But being "heretical" means that one is a heretic in serious doctrinal error. While the Pentecostal churches are by no means free from doctrinal error, and members are not necessarily without fault, and may not live up to all that they are supposed to according to what the Lord Jesus requires in His Word, the Catholic Church is in a state that's much more serious. This is because one of the fundamental teachings and beliefs of the Catholic church is that the Eucharist wafer used during communion mass is literally the "body of Christ" sacrificed each time a priest holds mass. This is absolute HERESY because it is BLASPHEMY. Christ's body cannot and will not be sacrificed by priests in a religious service for the atonement of humans. That occurred once on CALVARY and was not to be replicated or repeated by anyone. (Hebrews 7:27, 9:28, 10:10-14) The communion service held with the bread and wine are to be considered symbolic of his death, not literal. The Catholic teaching of TRANSUBSTANTIATION which claims that the priests, by praying during mass, can transform the wafer "bread" into the body of Christ is a mockery and fabrication. Anyone claiming that the priesthood of Rome is authentic has been deceived. The high priest of our profession is Christ. No human can rightly claim that title, nor sacrifice Christ. He as priest and "lamb" sacrificed himself - once and for all (time). It is finished. We just have to accept HIS FINISHED work in us and live it in our daily lives through his SPIRIT.

Pastor Hunter,
I am afraid that you are mistaken in some of the assumptions that you put forth. First, the bread and wine, once properly and validly consecrated, are indeed the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because He said so. In the three synoptic gospels He tells us “This is my body” “This is my blood”. He does not say, “pretend this is my body and blood” nor does He say “This is a symbol of my body and blood”.

In the sixth chapter of the gospel of John, He says over and over “if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life within you”. When those following Him had a problem with this and left, He did not go running after them and say “Hey, wait a minute, I was speaking metaphorically. It's really just a symbol.”

In the words of Fr. Robert Barron, “To deny the real presence in the Eucharist is to deny the divinity of Christ.” Why? Because, as Fr. Barron says, words have power depending on who speaks them. If your doctor comes up to you and says “You are under arrest”, then you might think that he has been sampling some of his own prescription opiates. But, if a duly authorized officer of the law comes up to you and says “You are under arrest”, then you are and you have to go with him.

The second wrong assumption is that Catholics re-sacrifice Christ at Mass. We do not. It is a re-presentation of the ONE sacrifice of Christ.

“The Catholic Church specifically says Christ does not die again—his death is once for all. It would be something else if the Church were to claim he does die again, but it doesn’t make that claim. Through his intercessory ministry in heaven and through the Mass, Jesus continues to offer himself to his Father as a living sacrifice, and he does so in what the Church specifically states is "an unbloody manner"—one that does not involve a new crucifixion.” This is from http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-institution-of-the-mass where you can read more on what the Church truly teaches on this and many other subjects.

Please forgive me but I need to be blunt in my question in order to gain clarity.

I have spent some time discussing Catholic issues and in them asked a number of questions to which no real answers have unfolded.

For example.. I ask if the Eucharist can be offitiated by any believing Catholic and I'm told "no only a priest". I ask at what point a priest is so empower and I'm told "at ordination". I ask at what point a priest ceases to be empowered and I'm told "when he resigns or is defrocked". Which leaves the question... Are priests who committ serious moral infractions moments before the Eucharist still so empowered? Most don't reply. Some that do evade the simplicity of the question. Others say they don't know.. .and therein lies just one of my problems

I loved reading your story. I was also a Pentecostal for several years as well as quite anti Catholic too. My maternal family are Roman Catholic and my maternal grandfather was particularly quite offended by my anti Catholic stance I had. Once I began working in my job, the pastor of my local Pentecostal church was quite rude towards me as I couldn't commit to the Bible Study evenings like I used to die to having my firstborn child. I never questioned the "manifestations of the Spirit" but some of which looked very demonic so I decided to line them up with Scripture. I soon found that the Bible didn't emphasise them or the emotionalism that came with it. I left that church - that I attended for about 12 years - and headed for another one.

My anti Catholic stance began to soften but not completely. I was blown away by the church I attended as it had connections to Hillsong Church Australia. But after a while, the teachings were very Word of Faith and prosperity motivated. I became discouraged and left shortly after I became pregnant with my 2nd child. I also lost my maternal grandfather in the same year.

I remember saying to God, show me where You want me to go? That was 2009 and in 2014 God answered my prayer. I moved to a new area with my children in 2011 following my ex partner leaving me for another woman in 2009. My children were registered at the local Catholic school and it was purely because it was the top performing school in the area. I then went to First Friday Mass in 2014 - 2 years after my firstborn started school - and left feeling alot less anti Catholic. I decided to return the next day and I said to God, if this is where You want me to be then let me know. As the Mass continued and then the priest uttered the words "Behold the Lamb of God..." I noticed people kneeling and I just looked up at the large crucifix abover the tabernacle and cried. As soon as I got home, I couldn't shrug that awe for the Holy Eucharist.

In the months after, I bought lots of Catholic apologetics books and read articles in Catholic Answers. Before I knew it, I rejected my anti Catholic stance and Protestant notions as I believed that the Catholic Church was the Church that Christ established. My belief in sola scriptura was quickly refuted as I learned everything I could in regards to Sacred Tradition. I enrolled in RCIA classes and was received into the Church at the Easter Vigil in 2015. I cried all through Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum but felt such a peace on Holy Saturday.

My only wish is that my maternal grandfather was alive to see me become Catholic - something he prayed about after I became Pentecostal in 1995. The beauty of the Catholic Church has blown me away and Catholicism is more biblical than I can ever imagine! God is good!!

These beautiful Catholic comments are so inspiring to read.... My Heart is joyful especially today December 2, 2017. The Birth of Jesus Season. Thank you Mother Mary for Your Yes to the Arc Angel Gabrial to give birth to the Son of our Creator. Salvation is Born to all Humanity and You, Mother Mary are soooo Loved by all us, Catholics. We Love and Venerate You Mother Mary. Jesus we Love You, cause You Both are the center of our Catholic Church... The True Church. Welcome Home, Live Catholic. Jesus waits for you with Open Arms and ALL the Real Love of a Loving Father, Amen!!!

To Darren's question above..
The Sacrament of Ordination, Eucharist and indeed all the Sacraments work "ex opera operates". This means that a Sacrament is valid by itself and not by the holiness of the officiating Minister. You can google "ex opera operata" doctrine of the Church.

I am a Catholic and my partner is a pentacostal ,
I am having a tough time defending my faith as a catholic, he wants me to convert to pentacostalism which I am not willing to, I try explaining to him that the catholic Church is the one true holy apostolic Church , but all he says is that u guys worship statues and pray to dead people and have man-made tradition, and all he comes up with is some weird video from YouTube regarding the catholic Church, he says your so called holy church as killed millions of people in the past and looted money to build the magnificent churches.
I want all of your prayers to help me remain strong and for the Holy spirit to guide my partner to the truth.
He came to church with me and said why only the body of Christ is given , church is fooling people.
I feel sorry form him , please pray for us

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Mr.Richard Lane preached at our church St.Elizabeth here in Palm Coast Florida... I Love being Catholic always have been loud and proud of my religion.. After hearing Mr.Lane i was even prouder to proclaim my…Written by Maria